Crimetown Podcast

Welcome to Crimetown, a series produced by Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier in partnership with Gimlet Media. Each season, we investigate the culture of crime in a different city.
In Season 2, Crimetown heads to the heart of the Rust Belt: Detroit, Michigan. From its heyday as Motor City to its rebirth as the Brooklyn of the Midwest, Detroit’s history reflects a series of issues that strike at the heart of American identity: race, poverty, policing, loss of industry, the war on drugs, and our universal desire for a savior. Detroit’s a tough town, and its residents are even tougher. They’ve weathered riots, a drug epidemic, political scandal, and innumerable other hardships, but they’re still here—and they have stories to tell.

It’s the early eighties, and a new organization is revolutionizing the heroin trade: Young Boys Inc. Unlike other drug operations, YBI recruits juveniles, brands smack as if it were designer clothing, and moves the industry out of the dope houses and onto the corners. As YBI’s relentless expansion causes more and more bloodshed, its foot soldiers must reckon with their impact on Detroit. For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

When a hungry young DEA agent arrives in Detroit, he picks the perfect case to make his bones: taking down Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown’s sprawling heroin organization. But if the drug kingpins fall, what will happen to their kids? As the feds close in, Eddie Jr. and Courtney Jr. must face the possibility of growing up without their fathers. For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown are childhood friends from a poor neighborhood. Eddie is the troublemaker, drawn to Detroit’s seamier side; Courtney is his quiet, serious sidekick. As they grow older in a city with dwindling job options, they go their separate ways. But when Eddie dives into the heroin trade, Courtney faces a choice: play it safe and stay broke, or join his friend’s burgeoning empire and get rich. For bonus content from this episode, check out crimetownshow.com....

A police shooting outside a community center leaves two black teenagers dead. Protesters take to the streets, igniting a movement to elect the city’s first black mayor. As election day approaches, the future of a racially polarized city hangs in the balance.For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

Detroit, 1971—a city riven by blight, racial strife, and rising crime. In the first episode of Crimetown Season 2, the police form a controversial undercover unit called STRESS—Stop The Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets. One of the unit’s cops kills so many black men that he earns a nickname: Mr. STRESS. Can anyone stop him?For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

In Season 2, Crimetown explores crime and corruption in the heart of the Rust Belt: Detroit, Michigan. Expect stories of police shootings, the drug trade, and political scandal from a city divided by race....

Crimetown Season Two will begin very soon. In the meantime, check out the first episode of Up and Vanished's second season. Last season, host Payne Lindsey looked into the disappearance of Tara Grinstead, a teacher and former pageant queen from Georgia. This time, Payne tackles a new story: the disappearance of a young mother, Kristal Reisinger, who went missing from a remote Colorado town....

Fifty years ago, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot in the kitchen pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, moments after winning the California Democratic primary. A lone gunman was captured at the scene, pistol in hand. Police said the case was open and shut. But was it? Meet Bill Klaber (author, Shadow Play)—a researcher who has a very different idea of what happened on June 5, 1968.Subscribe to The RFK Tapes here....

In 2003, a couple of Brown University alumni did the unthinkable: they wrote and performed a musical about everyone’s favorite criminal mayor. No recordings of the play exist today. So, as a holiday gift to Crimetown listeners, we’ve asked some friends in the musical-theater business to resurrect this forgotten classic.To listen to the Buddy Cianci: The Musical soundtrack, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

Courtney Calenda is a star high school student—until a powerful defense attorney more than three times her age pulls her into a downward spiral of sex and drugs. As her life falls apart, she decides to fight back.For more information about this episode, and a full list of credits, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

Jarrod Tillinghast is the son of one of Rhode Island’s most notorious mobsters. Determined to make a name for himself, he turns to boxing and becomes a rising star. But he learns that his father’s legacy isn’t so easy to leave behind.For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

Crimetown is hard at work on Season 2. In the meantime, check out Uncivil, the latest podcast from Gimlet Media. In Uncivil, hosts Jack Hitt and Chenjerai Kumanyika ransack the official version of the Civil War, and take on the history you grew up with. Uncivil brings you untold stories about covert operations, corruption, resistance, mutiny, and so much more. Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts....

Crimetown is working on Season 2, and we will have news on that soon. In the meantime, we wanted to introduce you to a new series from Gimlet Media called Mogul, a show we think Crimetown listeners will love. It tells the story of hip-hop through the life of one man: Chris Lighty. So we’re playing Episode 3 of Mogul, a story with some elements of crime in it, followed by a conversation with Mogul’s host, Reggie Ossé.Links: Mogul’s show feed Mogul’s website...

80-year-old Ralph DeMasi is known throughout New England as both a prolific armored-car robber and a dedicated family man. After decades in prison, he thought he would live out his last years in freedom. Then the police made a break in a cold case, and now Ralph has a new charge on his long rap sheet: murder. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Read Dan Barry’s New York Times article about Ralph DeMasi, “The Holdup: A Mobster, a Family...

Earlier this month, we brought some of your favorite Crimetown characters to Brooklyn for a night of storytelling. Hear tales of canine escape, gold heists, prison life and more from Bobby Walason, Charles “the Ghost” Kennedy, Brian Andrews, Tony Fiore, and Dr. Barbara Roberts.For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

To celebrate the end of our first season, Crimetown is releasing a soundtrack featuring many of the songs from the show. In this special bonus episode, co-host Zac Stuart-Pontier and composer/sound designer Matthew Boll take you behind the scenes to discuss their favorite moments from the season and how music helped bring Crimetown to life.You can find the soundtrack on: iTunes | Apple Music | Spotify | Google Play | Bandcamp...

Buddy Cianci was once a crusading prosecutor who took on the mob. Now, he’s behind bars. For the mayor of any other city, this would be the end of the road. But Buddy isn’t any other mayor. And Providence isn’t any other city. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

Buddy Cianci faces justice. His lawyers say he’s the Renaissance Mayor, too busy rebuilding Providence to notice a few bad apples in his administration. The prosecution says he’s just another crooked politician, running a massive corruption ring out of City Hall. Which story will the jury believe?For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

Dennis Aiken is an FBI agent from Mississippi. Anthony Freitas is a businessman from Portugal. Together, they’re Providence’s best hope in the war on corruption—and they just might take down Buddy Cianci once and for all. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

Nicole Ouimette always knew her father was different. He was in and out of prison for most of her childhood. He had a lot of money but no job. And then, one night, the FBI showed up. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

Charles “the Ghost” Kennedy and his sister Gloria took very different paths in life. She became a state senator. He became a drug smuggler. And as his empire starts to crumble, the people close to him suffer the consequences. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

Buddy Cianci left City Hall in disgrace after torturing a man in his living room. Now, he attempts the impossible: running for mayor of Providence again. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com....

When master burglar Tony Fiore gets out of prison, he decides to try something different: robbing armored cars at gunpoint. His new hobby will bring him head to head with an old adversary one last time. For more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

A shadowy group of political insiders tries to cover up a crisis. A mobbed-up banker vanishes after embezzling millions of dollars. And one renegade ex-nun saw the whole thing coming. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow their businesses every day. Squarespace – For 10% off your first purchase go to Squares...

A mob lawyer rises to become Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. He promises to leave his past associations behind. But it's hard to part with old friends. For more information about this episode, and a full list of credits, visit crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow their businesses every day. Squarespace – For 10% off your first purchase go to Squarespace.com and use the offer co...

A young doctor suddenly finds herself caring for a sickly old man named Raymond Patriarca. As she grows closer to her new patient, she’s drawn into the underworld in more ways than one. For more information about this episode, and a full list of credits, visit crimetownshow.com....

After a lucrative career as a thief, Charles Kennedy has an important realization: the real money is in drugs. He rises to become one of the East Coast’s biggest traffickers, throwing coke-fuelled parties and amassing a strange menagerie of pets. But his success attracts the wrong kind of attention. For more information about this episode, and for a full list of credits, visit crimetownshow.com....

One night in 1982, a 20-year-old man is senselessly murdered at an abandoned gas station. A mobster is taken into witness protection after he pins the murder on his boss. This brutal crime will push three wiseguys out of the mafia in very different ways. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

A master thief keeps getting away with big heists. A cop spends years tailing him, tapping his phone, and practically moving in across the street. Their epic tug-of-war will revolutionize the fight against organized crime.For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Blue Apron – To get your first three meals free with free shipping, go to blueapron.com/crimetown. Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their cust...

March 20th, 1983. As an FBI investigation swirls around him, an increasingly unpredictable and paranoid Buddy Cianci summons a few friends to his home on the East Side of Providence. What happens there that night shocks the city. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Blue Apron – To get your first three meals free with free shipping, go to blueapron.com/crimetown. Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with th...

Crimetown is back with new episodes next week. In the meantime, we wanted to tell you about a four-part true-crime series from Reply All producer Sruthi Pinnamaneni: the strange case of Paul Modrowski. Links: Reply All's website Reply All’s show feed Part 3 of On the Inside...

Police discover a bullet-riddled body in the backseat of a car. Jerry Tillinghast and his brother Harold are arrested. But doubts are soon raised about Harold’s involvement. And now, Jerry has a choice: break the mob’s code of silence, or allow his brother to join him in prison. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow th...

Buddy Cianci, the popular mayor of Providence, runs for governor. But he knows something the people of Rhode Island don’t. And when they discover Buddy’s secret, it threatens to derail his political career. So what does Buddy do? He picks a fight. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow their businesses every day. Square...

August 14, 1975. A ragtag crew of crooks holds up a fur company. But it’s not just a fur company. It’s the Patriarca crime family’s secret bank. And now, the thieves not only have to run from the law—they have to run for their lives. Our Sponsors Blue Apron – To get your first three meals free with free shipping, go to blueapron.com/crimetown. Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow their businesses every day. Squarespace – For 1...

Buddy Cianci runs for mayor as the anti-corruption candidate, promising to change Providence. He’s a novice Republican politician in a city ruled by Democrats and mobbed-up unions. As he struggles to get elected, he faces an impossible choice: stay clean and lose, or get a little dirty and win. For credits and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Blue Apron - To get your first three meals free with free shipping, go to blueapron.com/crimetown. Mailchimp - More than 12 m...

How does a kid from Providence become a mob enforcer? Two men share their personal stories of joining Raymond Patriarca’s crime family. As they move from their formative years on the street to maximum security, they come up against murder charges, jailhouse feuds…and even the occasional farm animal.For credits and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.Our SponsorsMailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow thei...

Welcome to Providence, Rhode Island, a city where organized crime corrupted every aspect of public life. In the first episode of Crimetown, a young prosecutor named Buddy Cianci takes on a gruesome murder case. As the investigation heats up, Buddy goes head to head with the most notorious mob boss in the country—and launches a career that will change Providence forever.For credits and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com....

From Gimlet Media and the creators of HBO's The Jinx, a new podcast exploring the tangled web of crime and corruption in American cities. This season: Providence, Rhode Island. The first episode premieres November 20th....